Bowling-alley.



no. 695,624. Patented Mar. la, |902.

E. REISKY.

BUWLING ALLEY.

(Application filed Aug. 80. 1900.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet L illlllllll f IlI l UNITED ASTATES PATENTv OFFICE. v Y' EMIL REISKY, OF ROCHESTER, NEV YORK, .ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES REISKY,

. OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

B oWLiNc-ALLEY.

SPECIFICATION forming part'ofvIletters Patent No. 695,624, dat-ed March 18, 1902. Y Application Bled August 30, 1900.. Serial No. 28,564. (No model.) l

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMIL REISKY, 'a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bowling-Alleys, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements inl vertical section through the chute by which balls are returned from the pit to the players end. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of a pair of alleys embodying one form of my invention. Fig. 4 is a cross-section on the linetli of Fig. 2, and'Fig. 5 is a cross-section on the line 5 5 of Fig. l.

In bowling-alleys as now generally constructed the alley Ahas on each side a trough a, Fig. 5,and between two of the adjacent troughs is a dividing-board to prevent balls which roll off the alley and into one of the troughs from passing into the next neighboring trough. From the dividing-board rise standards that support a trough or runway to return balls from the pit end of the alley to the rack at the players end. In thepatent granted to me February 22,1898, No. 599,477, l is shown and claimed a particular returning device, consisting of a trough or return-way that is raised abover the surface of the troughs ct, Fig. 5 hereof. The return-way of my said prior patent consists, practically, of a fencel between two adjacent alleys, and the ballrack E is set, as is yet universal, between the runs of adjacent alleys or of parts thereof where the players stand or walk in delivering the balls in bowling. As is well known, every alley has its foul-line a, Fig. v3, and

for tenpins has a portion. a2, Fig. 3, on which the player must stand when'delivering the ball. Inplaying ninepins the player is allowed to stand anywhere back of the foulline a and to deliver his ball lat any angle to the middle line of the alley. Many play-- ers stand close to one side or the other of the alley, and it is very common for players movements and'his desired position -to be hampered by the position of the ball-rest.

' One purpose of this invention is to permit the removal of the ball-rest and lto remove the return-way to such positions that the player has an opportunity for unhampered movements back of the foul-line.I For this purpose I depress the return-way forthe whole or fora portion of its length below the surface ofthe alley A. Y This may be done in several ways, among which are two modes shown in Figs. l and 5 and in Figs. 2, 3, and et. In

Figs. l and 5 the return-way B starts from the pin end of the alley at a suitable height and descends partly above the level offloor, continues down in a position between the troughs a a, as shown in Fig. 5, below/SWv level of the alley-Hoor, and thence rises some distance back of the foul-line to the ball rest or rack 4C. The upper surface of the depressed portion of the return-wayB is covered by the flooring b, leaving, ofcourse, an opening h' for the balls to pass into said depressed portion and an opening b2 for the balls. to pass out therefrom. l l

Itis clear that by setting the ball rest or rack O back of the run D or that part of the alley on which the players move when delivering the ball the player might even step over upon the run of the next alley to deliver a ball upon his own alley, and the danger of contact with the rest is wholly removed, and, further, that the depression of the return-way B gives a less-interrupted view of the neighboring alleys. The balls that run off the alleys A pass into the troughs a, and

V'thence into the pit E, where they strike against the cushions F F.

In order to assist the attendants in returning the balls, I provide a shelf'Gr, that slopes from either side of the pair of alleys toward the middle line between the two-,as shown in Fig. 5, and make an opening g therein large enough for the balls to drop through upon the return-way B, so that the attendant need only place the ball upon the shelf in any position, whereupon it is guided to the return-way and automatically passes back to the rest or rack C, having its velocity checked by the rising portion c, adjacent to the rest. The rest C may have an upper portion C', upon which the larger balls remain, and an opening e therethrough, through which the smaller balls may drop upon the lower rack C2.

In the form of device shown in Figs. 23, and 4 but a single trough Ao is employed between each pair of alleys, and the return-way is wholly beneath said trough, except at the pit end and at the rising portion c to the rest or rack. Balls that run of either alley and toward the other alley pass into the trough do and thence into the pit. A pad or buffer 7i checks the halls passing from the trough into the pit at a suitable point, and a screen H, that may be padded, if desired, hangs over the middle line of the trough a in such a position as to prevent pins struck on one alley bounding into the next. The lower edge of the screen II must of course be of such'a height above the trough a0 that balls running in the trough do not strike it. The screen may be hung in any suitable way, as by an arm or bar ho, standing out from the rear wall H0, and the buffer or pad 7L may be hung in any suitable way, as from the same bar. The screen H and the buffer h are both of them hung so as to swing' and yield to the play of a ball or pin.

From the double-inelined shelf G, hereinbefore described, which is against the back wall H0 of the alley, a protected return-way K is formed,running, preferably, underneath the iioor of the trough d0 and extending from the hole g in the shelf G backward underneath the trough d0 back of the foul-line d and so far in the rear thereof as to merge and connect with the rising portion c behind the position where the player is to deliver the ball in bowling. The floor of The trough do forms the top of the return-way K for the better portion of its length. In the pitE the return-way is covered by a solid covering 7c or by strips of wood or metal that protect the interior of the return-way from the entrance of pins or balls. The buffer 7L protects the cover 7c of the return-way from being battered by pins or balls.

The iioor di of the trough a0 is, if desired, made of removable boards, so that the interior of the return-way K may be examined, or the said flooring d10 may be made of two or more strips on which the balls in the trough may run, which strips may be removable for access to the interior of the return-way, and by reason of the separation of the strips give a view at all times into the interior of the rcturn-way.

By making alleys with only a single returnway between each pair more alleys A may be put into a given width than has heretofore been possible. The largest balls used in bowling are nine inches in diameter, and the troughs a. heretofore in use have been made ten inches'in width in 'order to permit the balls to roll freely in them. Consequently excepting two troughs u, against the side walls X and Y of the alley space ten inches in width is saved for each pair of alleys, and as the standard width of the alleys A is forty-two inches six alleys may be put in where only five were heretofore possible, and the setting of the return-way in such a position as to permit the balls from either of a pair of alleys to pass into the single ten-inch trough between them is the means of saving this space,

which saving,particularly in large cities where ground-rents are high and where an additional alley may earn as much as an additional five hundred dollars a year for the proprietor, is an important and valuable production. y

An uninterrupted View over all the alleys is obtained by the form of device shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4. Even there may be more than two alleys, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5.

What I claim is- 1. In a bowling-alley, the run, a ball-rack higher than the run, and a return-way adapted to convey balls from the pit to the ball-rack, and having the portion adjacent to the run depressed below the surface of the alley.

2. In a bowling-alley, the run, a ball-rack higher than the run, a ball-guide shelf against the rear wall of the pit and above the run; and a return-way adapted to convey balls from the guide-shelf to the ball-rack and having the portion adjacent to the run depressed below the surface of the alley.

3. In a bowling-alley, a ball-guide shelf against the rear wall of the pit and above the run, a return-way set between adjacent alleys and running from said shelf to the ball-rack and having the portion adjacent to the run depressed below the surface of the alleys; and a ball-rack higher than and set back of the run.

4. In a bowling-alley, a pair of alleys, a ball-rack higher than the run; a single trough between the alleys for balls that run off the alleys; and a return-way under said trough adapted to convey balls from the pit to the ball-rack.

5. In a bowling-alley, a pair of alleys, a single trough between the same for the balls that run off the alleys, said trough being only of such width as to permit the passage of a single ball., and a return-way extending from the pit to the ball-rack at the players end under said trough, a ball-rack back of the run, and a screen or dividing-board supported between the pin portions of the alleys and over the trough.

(l. In a bowling-alley, a pair of alleys, a single trough between the same for balls that IOO IIO

run olf the alleys, said trough being only of l over the trough, and abuffer foroheoking the such width as to permit the passage of a sinballs passing through the trough into-the pit. gle ball, andk a return-way extending from the pit to the ball-rack vat the player's end s A l under said trough, a. ball-rack back of the Witnesses:

run, a screen or dividing-board supported C. M. PERKINS between the pin portions of the alleys and F. BISSELL.

EMIL REISKY. 

